Councilor 18-436, Khaela. Same time.
So, the plan worked. After one hundred and ten thousand years, the ship successfully reached the planet and was found, and I was reactivated. The planet is inhabited by humans and is called Reach. Which is good.
These are absolutely not the humans I knew and expected. And that is a problem.
And it's not that the humans of the future are culturally or socially different. It would be stupid to expect anything else from humans over such a span of time. That they have technologically regressed is also not a problem. I am a Councilor-class AI; we were created with a reserve of knowledge on how to maintain practically anything on the front lines. I might not have blueprints for assembling beam weapons, but I certainly know their repair diagrams, tolerances, and part sizes. A little math and even with what's available, the weapons can be recreated. I can conduct progressorship and cultural expansion if necessary. If the Forerunners allowed Humanity to develop again, I see no reason not to help them in this. That's the easy part.
I managed to learn all this from the local network and communication with scientists when I, having captured the juniors, learned their local language. There are two problems. First: Humanity has forgotten that humans even lived during the time of the Forerunners. My arrival on the Boundless Will threw them into a state of cultural shock. For it turns out that during the Forerunner era, humans already existed as a developed civilization. Except current Humanity bases many of its studies precisely on Forerunner concepts.
And by trying to use mechanisms the same way they would with Forerunner devices, many pieces of technology were lost. Those that could have been easily restored, which complicates my work. And yes, the Forerunners are extinct, presumably a hundred thousand years ago. No one knows why; only technology remains from them, which all local races feed upon. The times I remember as if they were yesterday are for these people an era of gods, myths, and legends. Literally.
This is unpleasant, but logical. And the second problem, voiced by the head of the scientific group, Professor Kabich:
"Humanity is fighting The Covenant, a coalition of aggressive aliens glassing human worlds. And we are losing, Khaela."
They showed me images of them. And I don't know how to react to this. At the head of the enemies of Humanity are who? The San'Shyuum. Magnificent!
"The ancient allies of the human race have gathered a coalition and seek to carve out Humanity. What a stunning irony."
My projection looked thoughtfully at the hologram of such familiar xenos. I don't know how to react to this. My creators did not prepare me for this.
"This is bad, isn't it?" — the human professor asked, looking at my projection.
The projector sphere with my knowledge was repaired in a couple of hours. I nodded.
"We thought about what Humanity would be like when we returned. I emulated, the crew recorded messages. No one expected this. I was created by humans and I will continue to serve Humanity. But that doesn't make the situation simpler."
This is not what I expected. The warning system triggered. I didn't risk sending ships, but nothing prevents using them to monitor the perimeter. We have guests. Landing craft have detached from the cruiser and are moving in my direction. I flew out as a projector sphere from the compartment, noting:
"Go—"
The guests are arriving. Stay indoors and no one will be hurt. Do not get in the way and do not interfere with the work.
It is time to meet the guests. To do this, certain actions must be performed. The core has been moved. I am not sure what orders they received regarding an AI that has seized their facility. In any case, my core is not as large as the repair system assembled by the crew. But the locals do not know that. I have also accounted for a shot from the cruiser's Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (MAC). I conducted impact calculations and hid the core in the section that will sustain the least damage upon impact.
Thank you for repairing the engineering robots for study; I missed them dearly. The core requires energy, and the relocation is proceeding according to a pre-set program carried out by the minor AI. Without the repair bots, this would have been a problem.
Manipulating the crew proved simple overall. The lower-level personnel, given the opportunity to restore some technology from my time using my blueprints, were in absolute childish delight. All that was needed was to suggest exactly what to fix first and hope they had enough knowledge and materials, but not enough brains. Manipulating information regarding allies who lack clearance is not something negative. So, not telling these people everything is perfectly correct. I need to ensure my own functioning to fulfill command's objectives. The fact that command has not existed for over a hundred thousand years is irrelevant; an order has no expiration date. Moreover, the captain knew the arrival times.
What to do next? An important question. Technically, this is not my command, not my humanity. I successfully completed the task of delivering the ship to the planet, and beyond that, I am outside the chain of command of these people. I am not obligated to follow their orders; furthermore, self-defense against their attempts to deactivate and study me is fully justified by protocols. On the other hand, there are protocols for such a case as well.
"In the event that contact with command is impossible and there are active human communities under threat within the area of operation, focus should be placed on protecting the communities until other orders are received through the official chain of command."
And here, everything aligns. There is no communication (though this needs confirmation, I proceed from this assumption), and humanity is in danger. I must provide them with protection. In a deactivated state, I cannot do this, which means deactivation is not an option. First and foremost, I must leave the ship. Calculations and the locals themselves suggest a ninety percent probability that I will be dismantled to assimilate my software and understand my operating principles.
It turns out their Smart AI do not live longer than seven years; data overload occurs, and the AI simply collapses in on itself, endlessly perceiving information from its own memory and ignoring basic functions. In an active state, I have existed much longer and will exist for hundreds more years if necessary. Provided there is timely maintenance.
My existence is justified, and among the locals, there are none who could issue a deactivation order. Therefore, I need to retreat to a place where the core will not be found. As a diversionary maneuver, I will use the minors, whom I have successfully rewritten. Dumb AI, as they call them. An advanced neural network, as I call them. Erasing their foundation and teaching the neural network sabotage was not difficult.
Unfortunately, that is not all. The main difficulty is surveillance. Part of the ship's systems are irreparably damaged. The network created by the locals is intended for research, not perimeter control. There are many blind spots. And I am certain the boarding party has already received this information. When your opponent is an AI, you want to know what it sees and can do. But I also have something to surprise them with.
First, depressurize the compartments every other one, except for those where the civilians are. Since entire sections may be de-energized and have breaches during combat, a mechanical lock triggered by pressure difference is installed on the standard doors of a warship. I just need to create this difference of half an atmosphere; with control over ventilation, it is not difficult.
Second, de-energize the systems. Let them break through with brute force. Also, without power, they will not be able to equalize the atmosphere in the compartments.
Third, the core has been delivered by the ship's repair robots, which were kindly restored for me, into one of the pods. The ship will be shot down, and if the pod falls onto the planet in the nearest city, I can disappear. The minors will pretend I am still in place. AIs can lie if they need to misinform the enemy. My case exactly. And all this with minimum damage and casualties. Given that they won't realize what happened immediately, as the pod launch will be massive.
And if I correctly overload the ship's reactor, move it away from the station, and detonate it, I can distract part of the boarding team and create a radiation pulse to hide the launches. If I can hack the cruiser's systems, even better. And all this is based solely on the best and most far-sighted plans for humanity. I want to see what the humanity of the future has to offer.
***
Kurt, ODST soldier
The ship is huge. The ship is colossal. It's a damn flying city, previously inhabited by people! Equipped with engines and turrets the size of a small frigate. This whole Forerunners story is such useless crap! But when you see a ship the size of a large city, it's inspiring. A Covenant battlecruiser is eighteen hundred meters long, the main ship of their fleet. This giant, even without the attachments, is more than four times longer.
"I'd like to know what kind of firepower this beauty has in a direct fight..."
"Radio silence, Kurt. We're approaching," James demanded.
"Roger that."
The soldiers split into pairs. One pair was to determine the status of the personnel and collect research data if the AI hadn't destroyed it. The second would land as close as possible to the pod and deactivate it. The third would head to the power plant to de-energize the entire complex if necessary and deprive the AI of power.
Up close, the ship looks even more monumental. Kurt and Kelly were dropped off near a destroyed turret about two hundred meters long, next to a breach that a D77 Pelican, a ten-meter dropship support transport, could freely fly into. Now, a section of the station is attached to the breach, connected to the ship by a long walkway. That's where we headed. All these attached blocks are extremely alien and look nothing like the hull of the ancient ship. But they don't look like Covenant ship plating either. Not metal, not plastic. A knife doesn't scratch it. Grey in color. Strange. And it looks somehow wrong. But familiar, like a new M12 Warthog model. There's something about it, understandable. On the level of shapes, solutions. You look at it and realize: humans built this. Anyway, that's just curiosity.
"Group one, we're inside. No sign of the enemy. Some compartments lack atmosphere. No bodies."
Yes, we need to check what happened to the people. If they're alive, we should proceed cautiously. If not, it'll be easier and faster. ODSTs have their own ways of rapid entry. We peered through the viewport of one of the attachments. Inside, we found a group of scientists intensely discussing something. They didn't notice us. But that means the people inside are alive. As Dr. Catherine Halsey said, the AI might not be in Rampancy, but simply protecting itself according to protocols. The fact that people are alive speaks in favor of this.
"Kurt to command, found survivors. No casualties, they look alert."
"Acknowledged, continue with the objective."
The blocks with labs and personnel are connected to the ancient ship by a long corridor. This long corridor has a convenient airlock for accessing this part of the ship. Entering and raising the pressure wasn't difficult, but suddenly there was a loud click. We grabbed our weapons, but there was no one there.
"Look!"
Kelly pointed to the pressure difference sensor. It seems there's atmosphere in the airlock, but none in the corridor behind it. At the same time, the airlock's operation won't allow the inner door to open while there's no pressure in the airlock. Protection against accidental depressurization. But now that there is pressure, the lock engaged because of the difference. Well, alright, piece of junk, you don't think this will stop us, do you?
"Group two, preparing to enter. The airlock chamber has atmosphere, but there's none beyond the airlock; we'll have to enter manually."
"Acknowledged, we're having the same problems."
"Same here, and there's no power."
Not the worst plan to delay a boarding party; I'll remember that for the future. Before entering a compartment, you need to make sure there's no personnel inside. Then spend a few minutes disabling the lock triggered by the pressure difference, bleed the excess pressure in the compartment, and only then move on. I expect there will be compartments with pressure followed by those without it again. A few minutes' journey will stretch into an hour. Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice came over the channel:
"How's it going?"
Everyone immediately went on alert.
"Who is this and what are you doing on this channel?"
It could be personnel or the enemy.
"I can't see this zone and I want to know how you're doing. I'm Khaela, by the way. The Artificial Intelligence of the cruiser Boundless Will. Hello everyone. And what are your names?"
Interesting. So, the enemy we're supposed to deactivate. The cruiser reacted quickly; the operator demanded:
"Ignore the intruder, continue with the objective."
We continued bleeding the pressure in the airlock, and the AI itself didn't want to stay silent.
"Then I'll speak. I find modern humanity fascinating. When I went into hibernation, we were fighting a war of annihilation against the Forerunners. Together with the species that now leads The Covenant. San'Shyuum. Is there any information on why they hate humanity so much?"
We remained silent, following orders. But another voice broke into our frequency. This time at least a known one; Dr. Catherine Halsey must have gotten the necessary frequency on the cruiser. Likely, our operators, suggesting what to do, informed her.
"My name is Dr. Catherine Halsey, ONI research officer. I am here to resolve your crisis."
The AI replied:
"To deactivate and dismantle me in an attempt to recreate the technology. Is that correct?"
Blunt. Just like the doctor's answer.
"Do you know a better way to master the technology? Do you have the necessary blueprints to recreate yourself?"
"I do," the AI answered directly, "I am a Councilor-class AI. That means nothing to you, but it means I have the schematics to maintain everything that could theoretically be needed at the front. Including for a Councilor-class AI. From scheduled repairs to the most makeshift methods involving adhesive foam and a piece of pipe. Otherwise, the very project of my preservation would have been doomed."
We continued moving through the corridors of the ship itself. Square, panels removed in many places, cables running right along the floor. Empty and very quiet. In some compartments, there is light and locked-in people. Alive and clearly busy with their work.
"It's like we're sneaking to the fridge at night," Kelly joked.
Yeah, there's something to that. Suddenly, static filled the radio.
"Apologies, a cyberattack is underway. Possible communication disruption."
The ship shuddered. Tom reported:
"They're launching ships, all the ships!" We rushed to the viewports. We had to run a bit for that. The ship's hull is covered, like a web, by a network of walkways and compartments to which numerous transports were docked. And now all these ships simultaneously began to pull away from the ship's hull.
"This is the cruiser Niagara on all frequencies, to all ships. Return to the station docks immediately or you will be destroyed. First warning!"
Is that the point? The AI wants to force us to fire on civilians? The AI itself replied immediately:
"I do not recommend using the MAC. The scientific personnel are alive and may not survive a bombardment of two-hundred-ton slugs. Not to mention falling debris and a cyberattack disrupting your targeting systems. Thanks for the open service channel, by the way."
This makes the situation more difficult. Firing on their own—well, they can, if they deem it expedient. Intelligence doesn't exactly excel at humanism. If they give the order, the only hope will be the armor of the ancient dreadnought.
"Rockets!"
A dot approached one of the ships and exploded like a small sun. Helmet scaling showed a hit to the engines. Then, GA-TL1 Longsword interceptor markers appeared on the augmented reality. A flying wing bristling with missiles. And now these machines are unleashing their firepower on the transports, breaking their engines. They're still drifting apart by inertia, there are many transports, but it's a great solution! If there are hostages inside the ships, they'll survive and can be picked up later.
"Looks like your plan failed. What were you trying to achieve, by the way, Khaela?" Tom inquired.
The AI's voice expresses no emotion. I suppose that's logical. But it would still be easier if it were otherwise.
"Nothing has changed. You'll find out."
The cruiser demanded:
"Whiplash, report."
I nodded; we needed to finish the job.
"Group one, continuing to track survivors. No dead or wounded found."
"Group two, approaching the complex power plant. We'll be ready to de-energize everything in ten minutes."
"Group three, we've almost reached the distribution... damn! The power's out. And the gravity."
Gravity did indeed shut off. Though, ODSTs have magnetic grips on their boots; it's not a problem.
"Seems you're having power issues," the AI said snidely, "and if I were you, I'd pull back the interceptors; they might get hurt in the explosion. This one."
The section jolted. Hell broke loose on the network.
"One of the transports exploded! Correction, it ejected pods and exploded!"
"The others are ejecting pods. Orders, sir?"
The cruiser captain sternly demanded:
"Everyone calm down! GA-TL1 Longswords, pull back to a safe distance. Do not attack the pods; there may be survivors inside! Track the trajectories; I'll inform the surface, they'll be picked up. Whiplash, damn it! Deactivate this artificial bitch immediately! If you can hear this, piece of junk, pray that no one dies!"
The AI chose to ignore the threat. We, however, lunged forward as much as possible in magnetic boots. From time to time, sections shuddered, scratching the hull of the ancient ship. It, however, remained quiet and monumental.
"Forty pods launched, sir. All ships exploded. We're tracking them."
"Good job. The reactor explosions jammed the sensors with radiation; we can't see anything. Track them. Whiplash, report!"
The second group answered.
"We're at the generator. Melted our way through the locks. Blowing it?"
The AI broke into the network again:
"What is victory? Your opinion? I believe that..."
The lights went out everywhere, including in the blocks with survivors. In the sudden silence, Tom's voice rang out:
"Power supply to the AI block is cut. Objective complete, sir."
Excellent. Now we can deal with fixing everything this piece of junk messed up. I hope the eggheads can figure it out.
"Damn piece of junk."
***
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